Remember: My 25? I think everyone did this at one point

1. I’m thinking of shaving off all my hair. I did this when I was 19, so it’s time again. Maybe.
2. Isabella is watching TV right now. I feel really guilty about this, but not enough to turn it off and play trains.
3. Thankfully today is mild, but the powers that be have turned off the water and heat in my building for pipe maintenance. In the middle of winter?
4. I’m going to find out what the penalty is for breaking my lease early.
5. I love socks. We’re poor right now, so maintaining a really great sock collection is on my “Rich List”.
6. I have a When I’m rich list. Item number one: When I’m rich I’m going to buy a yacht and sail to Fiji.
7. Willy and I went to Catalina for our honeymoon. It was the second time I’d ever seen the ocean. And the first I’d ever touched it. One day we rented a paddle boat and decided to buy a Yacht, when we’re rich.
8. Of course we don’t really want the yacht. But we do want to be happy, so it serves as a pleasant reminder of what we value. Willy says if we can ever afford X luxury, we should helping other people instead. I agree. Although I wouldn’t mind having a maid.
9. I’ve secretly resolved to have some housework help, while I become a world famous mathematician.
10. I failed multivariable calculus. I tell people the class was too early in the morning, but really I should have just done my homework.
11. In college I loved going to my lectures. I even went to extra seminars, just to learn more fascinating stuff.
12. I probably should have majored in English Lit (since I spent all my time reading novels), but I’m glad I’ve got a BS instead. My only regret is not learning how to think about literature and art.
13. Ha! B.S. It’s an old joke, but I still think it’s funny.
14. I made up a game called the 5 senses game. I make a list of at least 10 things I can sense with my five senses. It helps to anchor me to the moment when I’m discontent.
15. Sometimes I’m too lazy to recycle.
16. I feel really guilty about it.
17. This list is taking a very long time. Already it’s been more than 24 hours.
18. I think Isabella is unrolling the toilet paper. Right Now.
19. One of my guilty pleasures is romance books.
20. It’s been a few years since I started this, but I still like Romance.
21. I’m reading the biography of Georgette Heyer. She created a whole romance genre.
22. She’s one of my favorite authors.
23. I also like George Elliot. But I haven’t read her stuff in a long long time.
24. I really sat down at the computer to write about my grandmother, but I got distracted.
25. Obviously

Bumper Stickers

In California people drive shiny cars. They don't generally decorate them with stickers. Even though I think bumper stickers are dumb (Don't put a fine print sticker on your bumper if you don't want me to tailgate you; and no I don't care about your honour student, or your dog that's smarter than my honour student, why can't we just coexist?, oh and FYI Bush was elected 10 years ago and that joke is only funny one time.), there's something alluring about them. I wish I could have taken a picture of the one I saw at the grocery store years ago. It was on a flashy yellow sports car and it said: Don't worry, my treasure is in heaven. Now isn't that classic. I wonder how much the value of that car dropped? $10,000?

I almost got run over by a bike!

Here's something that bothers me... cyclists who don't think stop signs apply to them.

Now I realize coming to a full stop is difficult on a bike, I mean you kind of have to plan for it a few yards ahead. And we all know bikes aren't stable when stationary; you have to put your feet down or fall down. Really a cyclist in full regalia would look even more ridiculous lying on the pavement. Plus there's the whole inertia problem. Nor is it easy to pick up speeds of 40mph if you have to stop at every other block. So, of course if you're going to obey traffic signals and get to work on time you might as well join the plebes and drive!

Street Fighter II

The other day... I was walking.

I was pushing a double stroller. My son sitting in the front and my daughter standing in the back. We were waiting to cross the street at the base of a bridge. There were signs posted which tell drivers to stop for pedestrians. No one was stopping.

Two people, a man and a woman, ride up beside me on their bikes. They wait with me. Finally we just commit to the road and hope cars will stop. The bikers ride slowly along side me. The man explains he's protecting me from traffic. I laugh. One car doesn't stop, but tries to drive slowly around our group. And my hero yells, "Watch the babies!" He's stops, dismounts, and puts up his hands and shouts "Watch the babies!"

Triumph. I'm not the only one shaking my fist at intersections.

Street Fighter I

So the other day... I was walking.

Our destination was the park. The neighbourhood was rural. My son was in a stroller and my daughter and her friend were walking in a loose formation around me. We were crossing the road at a sort of Y intersection. Because the road is 3 car lanes wide, and because pushing a stroller* often involves navigating along a less direct route, we were in the middle of the road for a long time.

Now here is were my tale begins.

An old sports car rolls slowly past the stop sign and proceeds drive by me and my children. Yes it's a huge road and the car is moving slowly, but we're still in the middle of the road and we're pretty spread out and three of us are under the age of 5 (read small and fast and irrational). Naturally I morph into mama bear. So I stop, face the car, and hold out my hands.

I shout, "Stop your car."

The driver shouts, "Yes I see there are children."

Incredulous, I shout again. "So stop your car!"

"What are you doing in the middle of the road!" he accuses me.

"Just stop your car, we're crossing the street." I shout, while he glides past me.

"What are you? The babysitter?" He demands, like he's going to find my employer and squeal on me for ... overprotectiveness. Is he trying to add insult to injury?

"These are my children." I reply, mentally anexing my daughter's friend; they could pass for twins. "Stop your car when people are in the street!" I shout one last time. But he's gone and doesn't hear. And I have to explain to three wide eyed children why I lost my temper. The rule is no yelling or fighting unless a bigger person is hurting you, or scaring you. I think this qualifies.


After I've smoothed my wild hair, taken a deep breath, and smiled reassuringly at my children I start to wonder if maybe I overreacted. Maybe I should read How to Win Friends and Influence People. Or maybe that guy should have come to a full stop and waited. What was his rush anyway?

I like this

I like the article of page 24 of the U.S. News & World Report (August 2010, vol. 147/7): A Town's Health Makeover.
The walking bus program is fabulous. What would it take to get something like that in my neighbourhood? Can Dan Burden come design sidewalks in my city? I'd like to know more about this blue zone project. What is the median income and racial demographic of communities chosen to pilot the program? How does healthful living impact the local and global economy? Could something like this work on a gigantic scale, like in L.A.? Do people miss the donuts, the french fries, the soda? Why, exactly, are people thrilled to add 3.5 years to their life? It comes at the end, when you're ready to die; isn't it too abstract to throw a party over? Where does that number come from anyway? Do the "motivational workshops" seem scary and dystopian to anyone? Who is opting out? Are they being treated nice? What are the nay sayers saying?
Bravo Dan Buettner- I'm gonna read your book. The Blue Zones.

On Walking: Stopping Traffic

Now that I don’t drive, I walk through parking lots. Not to be subversive or to reclaim public space- although the notion appeals to me. It’s just convenient, and often there is no alternative. Unfortunately it’s not always safe.

A little while ago I was crossing through a busy convergence spot at a nearby shopping center (is there a name for this kind of place?). It was just outside of a Home Depot, which should give you an idea of how congested the area is. I waited, like a good citizen, for my turn. On the way through the intersection my daughter dropped her donut. She cried for it. I stopped. Pedestrians do stuff like spontaneously stop to pick up donuts if we drop them, it’s gross but that’s not the point. If a car stops suddenly the passengers get whiplash. Pedestrians can be erratic and free, that’s why drivers hate and fear us.

Anyhow, I stopped. My daughter moved away from me to reclaim her donut. I should mention that traffic was still coming at us from four directions. I stepped in front of a moving van and commanded it to stop with my outstretched hand while my daughter gathered the donut. Children never do anything quickly, so I understand why the driver was impatient. Then while I was still engaged with the van, a truck coming from the opposite direction thought it could squeeze past my double stroller where my son was sitting licking chocolate icing off his fingers. I had to rush in front of that truck with both hands up and shout “Stop”, before the driver, who was glaring incredulously at me, ceased to inch forward. Both these vehicles could have blissfully run down my children.

Do they believe we’re invincible, that it won’t hurt if they tap us at 5 miles an hour? Or do they think that because we are not cars we have no right to occupy space in a parking lot? Do they know what it’s like to have no where else to walk? When they emerge from the car, do they not expect their safety to be respected either?

I was still indignant when we got home, and even now recalling events I'm feeling a out of temper.

I’ve been a driver, and I’ve hated the stupidity of pedestrians, and other drivers too. I know I was in the wrong; I should have left that stupid donut in the dust. But surely it wasn’t right for grown men to continue driving their vehicles toward a mother with two children no matter the context. If we were crossing at a traffic signal their actions would have been illegal. If we were on a residential street crossing to the playground they would have given us at least 20 courtesy feet- because pedestrians are unpredictable and vulnerable. It's not okay to drive through us.